25 containers of produce from the Negev miss their shipments; strikers protest new anti-nepotism rule.

The Ashdod Port union’s decision to embark on an impromptu strike on Sunday cost farmers in the Negev €5.2 million, as 325 containers worth of produce missed their shipments.

The union stop working without notice to express anger over a new anti-nepotism rule forbidding the hiring of union members’ friends and family. On Monday, the National Labor Court ordered the union to return to work According to Nuki Neufeld, who heads Israel’s largest root vegetable exporter, the strike created chaos ahead of the important Easter season.

Some ships left with half-full containers, while others proceeded to the Haifa Port in hopes of picking up cargo there.

Neufeld implored the port workers to behave more responsibly. Many Negev farmers live in a dangerous region near the Gaza Strip, he said, and suffer enough damages without the port inflicting further wounds on their businesses.